Dark Kiss
by tsutsuji
Summary: Fifteen drabbleficlets concerning the relationship between Midou Ban and Akabane Kuroudo: love, hate, ust, and sharp objects. yaoi
1. Chapter 1

**Dark Kiss**

_by Tsutsuji_

Chapter 1: Themes 1-6

Fandom: GetBackers

Pairing: Ban/Akabane

Warnings: yaoi, UST, hints of violence.

Disclaimer: GetBackers belongs to Rando Ayamine and Yuya Aoki and their associates, not to me. I make no money from this fic and intend no copyright infringement.

Drabble fics written for the LJ fic challenge community "A Villain's Love." Inspired by discussions with AmethystHunter, so much thanks.

Summary: Ban/Akabane. Love, hate, UST, and sharp, pointy objects. Fifteen themes, fifteen drabbles of exactly 100 words or multiples thereof.

**1. Lust:**

(Inspired by Episode 32: "Mission Start! Ginji vs. Miroku")

The edge of the blade in Jackal's hand gleams like moonlit, fluid silver, a taunting invitation like Akabane's smile and his nearly-hidden eyes. "Come closer, taste pain, and die," is the invitation offered by the blade, but Akabane's smile and the questioning tip of his head convey a different offer.

Pulse racing, senses keyed up, panting, Ban realizes that lust feels a lot like danger. The response of the serpent inside is an urge to strike faster than sight. Ban's own desire is to slip between the blades and wind himself around Akabane's body as tightly as breath allows.

**2. Mine:**

(Inspired by Episode 35: Get Back the Flame of Life!")

Money doesn't matter, and a Transporter never owns the object he conveys. One job is as good as another, except for the entertainment it might provide - might, but rarely does.

These days, though, what matters to Akabane is whether the object to be Transported might be retrieved by certain others. If he thinks it might, he will insist (in no uncertain terms) that he is the only one who can transport it.

"This one is mine," he says; but it isn't their precious, worthless cargo that he's claimed as his own, only the ones who seek to get it back.

**3. Forever:**

(Based on Episode 22: "Awakening! Thunder Emperor Descends")

Ban appeared as if out of thin air, stepping between Akabane and the moment the Lightening Emperor reached one hundred percent. Akabane's surprise gave way to disappointment that he wouldn't be able to test himself against Ginji's true power after all, then delight to discover that the GetBackers had surprised him once again.

But then, the single minute that followed became endless, as Ban's fall brought Ginji to his senses. Before the illusion was lifted to reveal that Ban still lived, Akabane knew for certain that killing Ban this way, unanticipated and needless, was something he would regret forever.

**4 Breeze:**

(triple drabble, 300 words)

All it took, after all, was a moment when they happened to be in the same place at the same time, not working (the job was done) and not fighting (they'd been hired by the same client this time). Ban said something blunt and rude; Akabane replied with something smooth and clever that made Ban chuckle, and they walked away down the causeway, battling each other with nothing more deadly than words, forgetting their friends who went off to celebrate getting paid for once.

All it took, then, was dusk falling into dark, unexpected solitude, Ban's shirt tails flapping in the breeze, and Akabane's coat whipping around his ankles. Akabane became distracted and amused by something Ban said, and the wind suddenly gusted his hat out of his grip. Ban laughed at him and jumped after it, but ran into Akabane who had reached for it as well. Their arms tangled, and suddenly they were face to face, and there was no one else around.

They stood there, suddenly motionless except for the wind blowing their hair in each other's faces. It was the first time they'd touched when they weren't, supposedly, trying to kill each other. It seemed as if it was the first time they'd looked directly into each other's eyes.

All it took, after that, was the sea breeze that left Akabane's coat, Ban's shirt, and the rest of their clothes strewn across the causeway, the rocks and all the way down to the beach. At least, when they finally joined the party much later, that's the explanation they gave for how Akabane now had only one glove and how Ban had lost his cigarettes, and for how all that sand had gotten into their clothes and hair.

"Sure," Ginji grinned, winking. "That was bound to happen!"

**5. Dark:**

Akabane understood that Ginji was Light to Ban's Dark. Ginji-kun's ordinary personality was pure sunlight, and his other side was the deadly, illuminating glare of the Lighting Emperor.

He sensed in Ban the same darkness others must see in his own eyes: darkness that was alive but seething with a deathwill like his own, the breeding place of nightmares. He thought the shared darkness was what drew him and Ban together. He forgot that Ban's soul had been lit up by his friendship with Ginji, and that creatures of the dark, like himself, were drawn like moths toward light.

**6. Kiss:**

(double drabble in two parts)

I.

Akabane thought he knew the danger. Ban's right hand at his throat could stop breath and blood; on his neck from the back, it could paralyze. He never expected to feel its grip in his hair only to hold him still while Ban's mouth clamped onto his.

Surprise immobilized even him more than the Snakebite's grip on his spine would have done. His startled breath was interrupted by Ban's tongue darting between his lips, and Akabane knew he'd lost this battle.

"Midou-san," he sighed, when Ban trailed kisses down his throat, "you do the most unpredictable things, don't you?"

II.

Ban expected Akabane's lips to taste metallic, like blood and steel, or feel cold and hard, but they were soft and his mouth was hot. Once surprise gave way, Jackal seemed as hungry for the kiss as his blades were for blood.

Surprise had also allowed Ban to pin Akabane's hands to his sides with his free arm, crushing them together. Akabane's wire-strong body fit against his all too well, he discovered. Rather than soothing Ban's curiosity, the taste of his skin grew more intriguing.

Ban gave in, and soon forgot the kiss had only been a diversionary tactic.

More to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dark Kiss**

_by Tsutsuji_

Chapter 2: Themes 9 & 14

Fandom: GetBackers

Pairing: Ban/Akabane

Warnings: yaoi, UST, hints of violence.

Disclaimer: GetBackers belongs to Rando Ayamine and Yuya Aoki and their associates, not to me. I make no money from this fic and intend no copyright infringement.

Drabble fics written for the LJ fic challenge community "A Villain's Love." Inspired by discussions with AmethystHunter, so much thanks.

Summary: Ban/Akabane. Love, hate, UST, and sharp, pointy objects. Fifteen themes, fifteen Drabbles of exactly 100 words or multiples thereof.

**9 Anger:**

(a (mis)interpretation of a piece of fanart by Hokane (http://yaoi. in 200 words)

"Jackal, you bastard," Ban growled, eyes flashing as they grappled. "Just let me get my hands on one of your knives and I'll take care of this once and for all!"

"Oh, I couldn't allow that, Ban-kun!" Akabane said, giggling as he evaded Ban's reach. "You might hurt yourself with it, and then what would I do for fun?"

"Heh," Ban snapped. "What about _my_ fun?"

Suddenly, somehow (but inevitably), Ban got one arm around Akabane's throat from behind, while the other hand clawed open his shirt and tried to pull the heavy coat off his arms.

Akabane stopped laughing and grimaced as Ban thrust his hips forward, making it quite clear what _he_ meant by "fun" -- or rather, as clear as it could be through so many layers of fabric.

"You just wear this damn thing to piss me off," Ban hissed in his ear.

Of course, Akabane thought; Ban was that much more entertaining when he was 'pissed off.' But then he reconsidered as Ban ground against him harder: he'd managed to tolerate having another of his favorite articles of clothing get cut up, and at times like this his coat really _did_ get in the way...

**14 Love: **

(Triple drabble in three parts)

I.

Ginji can't help it; the feeling bubbles up inside him and bursts out as a little song: "Baaaan-chan's in looovvve!"

Naturally, next thing he knows the subject of his happy song grabs him painfully by the ears.

"_Moron_! _S_hut _up_ already! I AM_ NOT_!"

Ginji squawks, squirms, and apologizes, eyes tearing up as Ban pulls him into a headlock and bops him on the skull a few times for good measure. But inside, he's still smiling like a kid, even if he can't explain to himself how he knows he's right, or why it makes him sing with joy.

II.

Across the room, Natsumi is amused. "Ginji-kun is silly! Who else could Ban-san be in love with but him?" she wonders. "But why would he be happy if he thinks Ban-san is in love with someone else, anyway?"

Paul peers over his newspaper at them, frowning thoughtfully. Ban is not usually so red-faced when he's picking on his partner, and he saw the man with the wide-brimmed hat who left Ban at the door.

Paul sighs. Natsumi looks puzzled.

"To be happy if the one you love finds someone else," he says, "that's true love."

III.

What worries Ban most is that what Ginji sees with his heart is usually true. But whatever it is he's got going on with Jackal, it sure isn't love. It's just tension and friction, a passing fascination that's sure to burn out as quickly as it flared, ephemeral as a Jagan-dream.

Sometimes he hates himself for it.

But if Ginji's right, if it's anything like love, it can only be for a hoped-for Akabane who has gotten back his lost humanity, because how dark must Ban's soul be if he can love Dr. Jackal just as he is?

and, still more to come (7 themes to go!)


	3. Chapter 3

**Dark Kiss**  
_by Tsutsuji_  
Chapter 3: Hostile, Cry, Shelter, Lost, Trials (themes 8, 10, 11, 13, & 15)  
Fandom: GetBackers  
Pairing: Ban/Akabane  
Warnings: yaoi, UST, hints of violence, dark themes. Tiny mention of drug use.

Disclaimer: GetBackers belongs to Rando Ayamine and Yuya Aoki and their associates, not to me. I make no money from this fic and intend no copyright infringement. Credits also go to ThinkExist for quotations, to silpholion at DeviantArt for beautiful Akabane fanart that inspired #11 "Shelter," and as always to AmethystHunter for insight into these characters. Also, of course, to AVillainsLove for the themes.

Summary: Ban/Akabane. Love, hate, UST, and sharp, pointy objects. Fifteen themes, fifteen Drabbles of exactly 100 words or multiples thereof.

I said I was going to try for humor. _I failed._ Seriously - there's some dark stuff ahead! You might not want to read these if you're already in an existentially gloomy mood, which I must have been in when I wrote some of them.

You've been warned.

* * *

**1. Hostile:**

Dr. Jackal had no vendettas to fulfill, showed no mercy, felt no regret, and he was deadlier than most. This meant that, whenever they fought, Ban didn't feel the need to hold back in the name of mercy or regret, as he did with the others he might have wanted to kill in the past.

Akabane still waited, increasingly patient for the day when Ban would become completely serious in a fight against him. For now, it was enough to feel, occasionally (in bed or battle), the effects of the past that Ban wouldn't let himself release upon anyone else.

**10 Cry, or Tears** (I ended up with both):

They learned some surprising things about each other.

Ban already knew that Akabane's definition of having fun didn't necessarily include winning, but he also discovered that, to Akabane, "winning" didn't necessarily mean ending up on top. Even more interestingly, he discovered he could bring tears to Akabane's eyes in a way that wouldn't get him killed.

At the same time Ban had this revelation, Akabane made his own discovery: his present position was unlikely to leave Ban crying for mercy, but Akabane was quite pleased to find that there was at least one sure-fire way to make him scream.

**11 Shelter:**  
(partly inspired by the fanart "A Pill Kudo Akabane" by Silpholion at Deviantart)

_"The grave is still the best shelter against the storms of destiny." Georg Cristoph Lichtenberg, German physics professor, scientist, 1742-1799._

Akabane never expected or wanted to feel alive again. After his soul died and his blood was altered into a weapon of death, life had become an endless quest to feel anything at all. Nothing he tried (and he'd tried everything from Aphrodite to Zen) gave him any sense of joy, except using his skill for killing.

But the fun of battle was fleeting, the excitement of bringing death was brief, the anticipation of reaching his limits was elusive. All the rest was nothing. That was why he insisted so strenuously that no one interfere with what entertainment he could find.

Detached from human life, Dr. Jackal denied death and its sorrow until both had ceased to exist for him, and now death itself was no more than a gift he gave to others, an end to the suffering that he no longer felt.

Of course, all of that had nothing to do with his obsession with Ban as the one who might finally show him what no one had seen: his ultimate self; and nothing at all to do with the possibility that the same person who showed him this might also give him the same gift in return.

**13 Lost:**

"Stop deliberately terrorizing my partner, Jackal!" Ban growled, after Ginji had once again slunk away in terror from Akabane's presence. "You don't really mean it, anyway!" he added as an extra dig.

"It's only natural for me to pick on someone as innocent as Ginji-kun," Akabane protested, "but I've seen you tease him much more mercilessly than I do, Ban-kun! It makes me wonder if his sweet nature troubles you somehow, hm? Perhaps, like a guilty conscience?"

Ban winced.

"For someone who hasn't even got a conscience, Jackal, you seem to know an awful lot about them," he muttered.

**15 Trials:**

(A mini-drabble series in four parts.)

"May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy."(traditional)

I. Happiness Ginji

Dr. Jackal still scared the crap out of him, that was certain.

Ginji could never forget the bright, red "J" carved into the slaughtered bodies he'd seen, or the mad smile on the killer's face afterward. But there were other things he knew he had forgotten, other dead bodies his own eyes had seen that he didn't remember when he was himself again. But because he was himself now, and because he knew in his heart that what was lost could always be found again, and especially because of Ban, Ginji laughed through fear and did his best to forgive.

II. Trials Ban

Ban often felt like the hero in some old folktale, the fated son who's been given a series of trials to test his strength: reveal the truth to Himiko and protect her from her brother's fate; prevent Raitei from destroying Ginji's true, optimistic self; settle his tab at the Honky Tonk, keep his car out of hock...

He was more than confident of meeting those challenges, however. He was much less certain of succeeding in the new task fate and his own heart had given him: retrieve Akabane's human soul (if it even existed) from the coldest depths of hell.

III. Sorrows Akabane

Ban never asked, but sometimes Akabane saw him wonder about the blades hidden beneath his skin, and about the scars with which Ban was now so intimately familiar. Sometimes Ban would frown, blue eyes narrowed, as he ran his fingertips over the harsh ridges on Akabane's chest or the marks on his palms and shoulders.

Sometimes, the sadness and anger in Ban's face reminded him that he was once capable of those same emotions - that he had once, in fact, been human.

Those were the only times he longed to draw his blades and kill his lover on the spot.

IV. Hope Himiko

When Himiko heard about Ban and Akabane, she wished she was surprised. Instead, her old doubts and rage toward Ban came rushing back.

"The worst of the worst finally found each other," she laughed bitterly. "A perfect pair of cold-hearted killers. How appropriate!"

Then she got a job with Akabane, and was shocked to hear him tell a crude, silly joke - until she remembered Ban telling the same joke years ago. Jackal smiled contentedly through the entire transport, even without getting to kill anyone.

Himiko smiled too. "Maybe," she thought, "even the worst of the worst can get better."

* * *

Only two more themes left to do. I'm clueless about what to do with them, but I never thought I'd get this far this fast, so I'm sure I'll figure it out. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Dark Kiss**  
_by Tsutsuji_  
Chapter 4: Thoughts, & You and Me (theme 12 & alternate theme 12)  
Fandom: GetBackers  
Pairing: Ban/Akabane  
Warnings: yaoi implied, a bit of angst. Also a spoiler for anime ep. 34.  
Rating: Safe for teens.

Disclaimer: GetBackers belongs to Rando Ayamine and Yuya Aoki and their associates, not to me. I make no money from this fic and intend no copyright infringement. Much thanks to ImplicitPassion, the Ban/Akabane lj community, and to AmethystHunter for turning me on to this pairing.

Summary: Ban/Akabane. Love, hate, UST, and sharp, pointy objects. Fifteen themes, fifteen Drabbles of exactly 100 words or multiples thereof - except for the last one which is 108 words, hee-hee!. This makes 15 fics to fullfill the challenge at AVillainsLove, so I'm done now. (So I can start working on my new claim of Ban, Akabane and Ginji at 12stories.)

**12 (alternate list) Thoughts (Thinking):**

200 words (OpenOffice says this is 201 words, but it counts "Ban-kun" as two words so I'm calling it 200 even.)

(Spoilers for episode 34 "GetBackers Break Up? The Enemy is Ban Midou!")

Naturally, Akabane heard the rumors. Every Retriever, Transporter and Protector was saying that the GetBackers had broken up. No one was surprised; everyone knew Ban Midou was a hot-tempered, loud-mouthed jerk who thought he was too good for anyone, even the former leader of VOLTS.

Akabane thought about Ban striking out on his own, without Ginji's humanizing influence. Would he return to thieving, or hire himself out as a Protector? (Rumors leaned toward the latter.) How would their paths cross? Perhaps - pleasant thought! - Ban Midou would become a Transporter.

"We could work together, Ban-kun!" Akabane mused. "The Jackal and the Serpent, the first and only Retriever-Plus-Transporter team, unstoppable and unbeatable! With our combined talents, no one could keep us from completing the job. In fact, with our combined reputations alone, no one would even bother to attack us at all! How - boring." He frowned as the lovely vision faltered.

"Still, there would be those long journeys alone together, with little to do except," he smiled again, "entertain each other..."

Before the (completely predictable) news got around that the breakup was only an act, Akabane got plenty more than just one minute's mileage out of _that_ thought.

**12 You and Me:**

(This last one is 108 words, in honor of Dr. Jackal.)

Ban knows it's never simply "you and me" in the jigsaw puzzle of relationships. "You and me" was Himiko, and also Yamato. It was Natsuhiko, and also the brothers. It's Ginji, and also Jackal.

Ginji is probably the love of his life, but love is more frightening to acknowledge than this mingled lust, caring and antagonism he feels for Akabane. There's nothing as equilateral as a triangle here, though, nor as simple as a threesome.

He and Jackal are enemies and lovers. He and Ginji are The GetBackers. The you-and-me he is with Akabane is the Mirror of the you-and-me he is with Ginji.

xx The End xx


End file.
